Summer Evenings and Winter Mornings
by feronia.wings
Summary: Momo and Toshiro, then and now. "Shiro-chan, do you think we were meant to be friends?" HitsuHina.


Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach. Nope. Nada. Zip. _Zilch_.

* * *

"Shiro-chan, quit it!"

"Only if you stop calling me that stupid nickname, Bed-wetter Momo!"

Two children were running down the road. It was sunset, and the sky was dyed brilliant shades of red, orange, and yellow as the sun sank into the horizon. Stars were already beginning to peek out as the boy ran after the girl, holding something in his hand the girl wanted absolutely nothing to do with. And that would be…

"Come on Shiro-chan, just put the poor frog down! Stop chasing me with it!" the girl shouted over her shoulder.

The boy smirked. "I'll put it down your back if you keep calling me Shiro-chan."

The girl's eyes widened to the equivalent of saucers. "You wouldn't, Shi-Hitsugaya-kun, would you?"

"Wanna find out? Call me Shiro-chan one more time."

The girl weighed the risks. If she called him Shiro-chan, she faced having a frog shoved down her back, something she most definitely did _not_ want. But, there was something so fun about teasing her best friend with that stupid nickname. What to do, what to do…

"Fine, I'll stop. But don't think you've won! You can't keep that frog forever!" she huffed, turning around to face the boy, arms crossed over her chest.

"Then I'll just catch another one. They're everywhere this time of year." the boy replied matter of factly, in that superior tone of voice adults found annoying and other children thought cold. Only their grandma and Momo Hinamori could ignore it, since they knew deep down Toshiro Hitsugaya was actually a warm, sweet boy.

A fact that Momo was having a very hard time remembering at the moment…

"It's getting pretty late, huh?" Coffee brown eyes turned skyward to stare at the rapidly darkening sky. "We need to go home soon."

"Yeah, guess so. How far back is it?" Hitsugaya asked.

"I'm not sure. Let's just start walking, kay?"

"Fine."

They began to walk in companionable silence. A full moon rose into the sky, throwing the world into hues of black and blue, creating shadows and turning once friendly objects into sinister beings. However, Momo was far from scared. With her best friend by her side (despite _still_ carrying around that poor frog), what was there to be afraid of?

"Hey, Hitsugaya-kun?"

"What?"

"Do you think we were meant to be friends?"

The question shocked him. Since when did Bed-wetter Momo worry about things like that?

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, because, out of every district in Rukongai, we came to this one. Out of everyplace to live, we were taken in by grandma. And out of every child here, you became my best friend, Shiro-chan." Momo explained, smiling as she turned her face upwards to bask in the moon's glow.

They once again walked in silence, Hitsugaya thinking over Momo's words and Momo simply enjoying herself walking alongside her silent friend. Finally, he spoke up.

"Oi. Don't call me Shiro-chan!"

And with that, under the night sky, with no one but the stars and moon as witnesses, the boy once again chased the girl. And it wouldn't be the last time he did it, either.

* * *

Toshiro frowned as he walked around Division 10. He was lost in thought, as he usually was when he took his early morning walks. This morning was no different from any of the others, except maybe for the dusting of snow that blanketed the ground. However, that feeling of familiarity changed when he recognized a certain someone's reiatsu in the distance.

He could have found her even if she was on the other side of the world.

Interestingly enough, she was on the move as well. He could feel her walking away from him.

"_Where is she going this early in the morning?"_

Without a second thought, he began to follow her.

It wasn't long before he came to where he supposed she was hiding, because that's what it certainly looked like. She was curled into a ball, arms hugging her knees so that they were drawn up to her chest, staring straight ahead with a dreamy expression on her face. Her breath fogged white in the early morning chill. Toshiro looked to see what she was staring at, and found himself gazing at a rising sun.

He looked back down at her, a tiny form on the roof of Division 13.

"You better hope no one else finds you up here, Hinamori."

Just as he knew she would, she jumped about a foot in the air and very nearly fell over the edge. He smirked as she turned to stare up at him.

"Sh-Shiro-chan! Don't scare me like that!" Momo gasped. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Yeah, well, maybe if you weren't trying so hard to think, you would have noticed I was right behind you."

"That's mean, Shiro-chan."

"It's Hitsugaya-taicho to you, Bed-wetter Momo!"

They went silent as they both stared at the sun.

"So, why are you up here anyway?" Hitsugaya asked.

"I just…wanted to think."

"I can see that." Hitsugaya snorted. "What are you thinking about?"

She hesitated for just a moment. "I was thinking about when we were younger. It was so much fun, wasn't it?" Momo turned to smile up at him.

"Yeah, I guess so, huh?"

Silence once again. And then…

"You never did answer my question, did you?"

"Baka, you never asked me one."

"No, no, the one from when we were little. Don't you remember?"

Of course he remembered. Every so often, when he had a quite moment to himself, he would mull over her words from that day so long ago. And he had finally come up with an answer, should she ever ask it again. Like right now.

"Sure I do." He retorted.

"Well?" She looked up at him expectantly. "Do you think we were meant to be friends, Shiro-chan?"

Hitsugaya answered with no hesitation. "Yes, Momo, I think we were meant to be friends." He caught her eye and held it, just before he gave her a gentle kiss.

_And so much more._

* * *

End!

Gah, I'm not all that happy with how it ended. At all. Not the most fluffy HitsuHina I've ever done… but then again, the only one I've done close to fluffy would be _Strange_, and that's moderately so…

I just needed to get this out of my system, cause I SHOULD be working on my other story, _Hide and Go Seek!_, but no, this one demanded to be written.

Demanded, I say! (While I was taking out the trash, no less...)

So, yesh, please review and what not. Thanks for reading!

-Feronia


End file.
